A virtual image, such as for a stereoscopic image and augmented reality, can provide the user with a sense of realism and verisimilitude and has been the subject of various studies.
In particular, the rapid commercialization of the 3-dimensional TV in recent times has made it possible to view 3-dimensional images in places other than specialized theaters, and the amount of contents that support stereoscopic images has increased accordingly.
A 2-dimensional image shown on a typical display screen may provide interaction with a user by way of a touch method. Korean Patent Publication No. 2010-0138193 discloses a method of providing interaction to a user based on a touch screen. However, this method only provides the user with visual interaction with respect to image information, so that it is difficult to provide interaction with verisimilitude.
In order to add realism to a virtual image, it is needed to provide tactile sensations for a corresponding virtual image, and it is needed to provide tactile sensations for such a virtual image through a terminal having a limited size, but as yet such function is not being provided.
To resolve the above problem in the related art, an aspect of the present invention proposes an apparatus and a method for providing tactile sensations to provide the user with realistic interaction.